10 URBAN GREEN EXPERIENCES

A STROLL IN THE URBAN FARM OF LOSÆTER

It’s open to visitors like any regular city park.

“And we have room for everyone who wants to participate in the continuous creation of a green urban space in what used to be a pile of gravel,” states Andreas Capjon aka Bybonden (the urban farmer).

“The strategy is not having a too clear strategy.”

“Here you will find smaller and bigger farming projects ranging from a therapeutic ‘sensory garden’ run by people with dementia, to the cultivating of a wide variety of aromatic plants, flowers, and vegetables,” Capjon explains.

THE FOREST, CAFÉS AND MUSEUMS AT BYGDØY

Get lost in the urban forest and find fairy tale sights.

The picturesque wooden café Sæterhytten keeps its doors open from 1 May to 1 October, whilst Norsk Folkemuseum (the Norwegian Museum of Cultural History) stay open all year round.

Bygdøy also has a concentration of some of Oslo’s other most visited museums, like the Kon-Tiki Museum, the Fram Museum, and the Viking Ship Museum.

THE WATERFALLS OF AKERSELVA

FOMOTO CAFÉ

Outside of the nearby Fomoto café and design shop by the Akerselva river, you can hear the powerful sound of running water.

Inside, Fomoto displays an ever-changing collection of design objects, often inspired by nature.

SAGENE DISTRICT AND EKTE VARE CAFÉ

Your alternative hipster-Oslo is here.

The booming district of Sagene in the inner eastern part of Oslo has a main square with a green theme.

A few footsteps from the square you can settle down for a coffee in a grocery store that is “an extension of the typical farmer’s market”, according to shopkeeper Ingrid Gipling of Ekte Vare.

This reused wharf building lies at the uttermost part of the pier Vippetangen, only 15 minutes by foot along the quay of Langkaia from the Oslo Opera House.

It’s not difficult to find something tempting from Vippa’s many food stalls.

Vippa is not only a place to eat but also a social hub, where food can be enjoyed on shared tables inside or outside.

Public transport in Oslo is the green link between all the green attractions.

LUCK CONCEPT STORE

Luck fashion store in the hipster district Grünerløkka has a jungle-like entrance. Nordic style, that is.

Everything you see here is for sale: the clothes, the books, the furniture, the design objects, and the encompassing green plants.

Aleksander Sahr is a shop stylist at Luck, and also a fashion designer known for his eclectic style.

“Plants? They are simply the ultimate accessory.”

TORGGATA BOTANISKE BAR

Botanical cocktails, anyone?

Enter Torggata Botaniske where the encompassing plants are taken as seriously as the drink making.

Three people living the green dream in Oslo have handpicked the ten examples above: Mia Frogner who runs the blog Green Bonanza, Hanna Norberg, author of the city guide Oslove, and Fredrikke Wiheden, a photographer with a passion for flowers and plants.

Now it’s your turn to go green.